The stainless steel cookware sets in the detailed review

The stainless steel cookware set is the best solution for your kitchen. This material has been around us all our life mostly, and there are good reasons for this. Stainless steel is safe, non-reactive, resistant to stains, and durable, it does not rust and get deformed. That is why there is a wide range of its applications including production of cookware.

About the material

The steel itself is made of iron and carbon which are available in nature. The iron is not the steel. You should understand that. This is a hard and tough metal that can be melted under the temperature of 1535 ° C. The steel retains all the properties of the iron plus there is an influence of carbon and other possible metallic or non-metallic elements improves its resistance. The proportion of the elements determines the grade of the steel. The further in, the deeper! In order to get stainless steel you should add chromium with a minimum content equal to 10.5%. The main advantage of the newly received material is its corrosion resistance, and the more quantity of chromium is in the composition, the more this property is manifested.

The producers may add some other supplements like nickel increasing corrosion resistance yet more. It means that there are some grades of stainless steel, which are intended for various purposes. You should mind that the stainless steel is also hard and cannot be deformed like aluminum for instance, it is nonreactive and has stylish look. It is marketed rolled into sheets or bars, or in any other forms and used in kitchenware among other things.

Thus, the principle benefits of the stainless steel in addition to the corrosion resistance are durability, simply cleaning and heat resistance – those ones which are needed for the cookware.

What is stainless steel cookware for?

You can hardly find enameled or non-stick pans in a restaurant kitchen. The professionals mostly use stainless steel cookware and manage to prepare fantastic dishes in these pans. It means that they know the secrets how to use this material in order to avoid the certain difficulties and instead to benefit from all its strong properties. Really, if you master these techniques, you will never return to other pans.

When we speak about advantages of stainless steel vessels, we should start of their versatility. You can use this cookware for any cooking method and occasion. It can be placed on the stovetop and in the oven, it is adjustable to any surface. You can boil, stew in it or make a great crust when roasting meat. In order to prevent food from sticking, you should heat the pan before putting some fat or foods into it. It must be really hot. Remember you are forbidden to preheat the non-stick and ceramic cookware being empty. Now then, on the contrary the stainless steel should be preheated properly.

When it is hot, the steel surface expands and contacting with the cool foods it starts contracting causing sticking that is why you should add oil when it is hot and create a temporarily nonstick surface. That’s the main secret.

When you decide on the stainless steel cookware, we recommend you to ensure that it includes the basic pieces which will be helpful in your kitchen.

You will certainly need some saucepans with lids of various volume – they are used almost for everything. To prepare soups and pasta you should take a stockpot with lid. The sauté pan with lid will be needed for sauces or braising. And of course there must be a skillet and frying pan to cook dishes made of eggs for example. The other items are at your discretion.

How to care of it?

In order your stainless steel vessels serve for a long time, you should wash them in soapy water. Though, it is not easy to remove all the stains from this surface compared to nonstick cookware. But it is possible, again if you know the secrets. In order to get rid of chalky white spots on a pan appearing after the contact with the calcium found in water, you should boil water with vinegar (3/1 respectively) in this pan. Then after cooling, you should wash a pan and dry it as usual. If there are dried, stuck pieces of foods, you are recommended to scrub them away with nonabrasive cleaners and sponges but this does not always work , moreover there is a risk to scratch the finish. Thus we know the better method: pour soapy water into this pan to cover all the dirty places and boil it. During boiling you should scrape at the stuck food using some spatula but do it very carefully. Then replace from the heat and let it get cool. Now you’ll manage to remove the remains of dried bits. When you notice discoloration looking like stains of rainbow-like hue caused by overheating, you can apply nonabrasive cleaners intended just for stainless steel or you can use it to cook some high-acid foods or rub a pan with vinegar. And at last the water spots can be removed by proper rewashing with a bit of baking soda and rinsing.

Stainless steel vs other materials

The stainless steel is the nonreactive and safe and that is a huge advantage compared to aluminum which leach into the food during cooking and copper being preferred by professionals but still it is react with acidic foods in addition the latter is expensive and there are difficulties as to maintenance of the items made of it. The glass pots are safe but they cannot boast of heat distribution that is why it is almost impossible to prepare food in accordance with most recipe without burning it. Cast iron is very good for the high heat but it is porous and demanding in cleaning and the pots made from this material also react with food giving the iron to human body which can be regarded as a benefit in the cases when a person is suffering from lack of this element. Here the rust is possible if the vessel is not “seasoned” in a proper way. All the coated cookware is not durable – they can chip off in three years or as a result of wrong use.

Compare to the all above materials the stainless steel by itself has its pros and cons. It is not a good heat conductor, like copper or aluminum but all its advantages turn the scale and the manufacturers have found the solution – they create the complicated constructions of the bottom of a vessel with copper or aluminum cores conducting the heat evenly allowing to cook quickly and react to the change of the temperature also quickly. You can find the cookware of stainless steel in various thicknesses. The thicker it is, the better it will cook. We recommend to choose the best you can afford. And it is important that the stainless pots do not impact the taste and flavor of food. Being resistant to scratches the stainless cookware can be damaged with knife for instance., that is why care of it.

Brands you should consider

There are a lot of producers offering the best cookware made of stainless steel. Which one can you trust? We are going to list the most respectful brand which will not disappoint you but that does not mean that we mention all of them. Just try to find more details of the manufacturer and consider all the issues when selecting the right set for your kitchen.

If you are looking for the premium category, turn your attention to All-Clad. Here the prices are high enough but the quality is out of doubt. Be ready that you will pay for the image and not only for the properties of the goods in this case. This brand is well known and self-explanatory. It promises only safe cookware due to use of the USA steel only and market a wide variety of the items suited to every fancy. It was created in 1971 as a manufacturer of cookware (the company itself has a longer life). Almost all its sets are made of stainless steel with conductive bottoms including copper.

Calphalon appeared in 1963. Nowadays it offers a wide choice of kitchenware. It applies various materials and stainless steel is among the most popular here – the choice of the professionals. The prices are different. You can find midrange cookware and there are the high-end products.

Cuisinart is another American trademark known nationwide. You can buy helpful and nice home appliance here. Being launched in 1971 it proves it efficiency with a wide assortment of the items of high quality. The key idea of this company to create the tools which will help people to savor the good life.

Tramontina is a Brazilian brand. Producing home appliances, cookware, and cutlery it does its best to inspire consumers to cook with pleasure and get new experiences. They really generate value and satisfaction for people delivering the innovative solutions for every day. You count on innovation and quality here.

Kitchenaid is an American company specialized in home appliance. It is founded in 1919 and now it is owned by Whirlpool Corporation.

The five best stainless steel cookware sets

If we are speaking about stainless steel, you should know the most popular and attractive cookware sets made of this material and produced by reputable manufacturers.

Cuisinart Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece Cookware Set

You will enjoy using 12 pieces of this set. The triple-ply construction consists of an aluminum core providing perfect heat distribution. The set can be heated up to 550 degrees in oven and matches any cooking surface meaning that the induction one is also available. There are tight-fitting lids made of stainless steel. You can enjoy this set on any cook top.

Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set

There are 10 pieces in this set. Its peculiarity is a construction in the form of sandwich consisting of three layers: a copper layer and two aluminum layers covered with stainless steel. Such construction provides perfect heat distribution with control over cooking. The design of the items of this set is graceful. The exteriors are polished while the interiors are brush finished. The handles are double riveted and reliable. The lids are made of stainless steel and fit properly the vessels. This set can be used on all stovetops.

Cook N Home Stainless Steel Cookware Set

The set consists of 12 pieces each of which is made mirror polished stainless steel. The construction of vessels bottoms includes a capsuled aluminum disc, which improves heat distribution. Even when the pan is hot the riveted handles stay cool. The vessels are accompanied with tempered glass lids. The producer promises that the items can be used in oven with heating up to 500F (if you are going to cover the pots with glass lids then you should restrict the temperature to 350F). The pieces of the set can be used on induction, gas, glass, electric, ceramic, and others.

If you want to buy a high-end set, pay your attention to this one. All 10 pieces represented in it are very helpful and designed for intensive use in busy kitchen. They are made as a 5-ply bonded construction delivering the durability, even heating and fast heat distribution. The inner surface of the pans is covered with a starburst finish preventing from sticking. The pots are with rims for easy pouring. The riveted handles and lids are made of stainless steel. All pieces with lids are allowed to be used in the oven. You can cook in them on induction stove.

This set is designed for the kitchen where there is a lack of storage space. Its 10 pieces can be nested and occupy the space needed to locate one large pot. They are made of stainless steel polished like the mirror and can be used on induction cooktops. The construction of vessels includes encapsulated bottoms improving the heat distribution. The handles can be removed. There two lids which can b interchanged between the various pans. If you want, you can buy additional handles and lids. The set offers all needed items perhaps only a nonstick frying pan can be purchased additionally if you prefer eggs for breakfast for instance.

You are offered to look through the details of the above sets or the other variants here.

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